BATON ROUGE -- In their effort to revamp
the state's juvenile justice system, juvenile judges and Gov. Foster's office
are trying to come to an agreement on a plan to give the Department of Corrections
greater flexibility to release young offenders from the state's secure facilities.

About two weeks ago the House Judiciary
Committee passed what was touted as a "compromise plan" to rework how juveniles
are treated when they commit crimes, providing the framework for a system more
focused on rehabilitation in community-based programs than incarceration in
the state's four juvenile prisons. The plan also calls for closing one of those
juvenile prisons, which would free operating money to be spent on creating more
residential and day-treatment programs for troubled youths.

But House Bill 2018, by Rep. Mitch
Landrieu, D-New Orleans, has not yet been considered on the House floor, as
the judges and administration officials have tried to work out the judges' concerns
about a "risk review panel" that would allow corrections officials to directly
release juveniles from secure institutions.

Those negotiations are almost completed
and the bill could be considered on the floor as soon as today, Landrieu said
Wednesday.

'Juvenile placement panel'

Instead of the proposal originally
included in the bill, the compromise being devised would create what proponents
are calling a "juvenile placement panel" of experts to evaluate whether young
offenders are ready to be released. If a juvenile is ready, the panel would
send the recommendation to the presiding judge, along with various assessments
of the youth and a plan for treatment outside of the prison, said Patrick Martin,
Foster's assistant executive counsel.

A judge would have about three weeks
to decide whether to accept or reject the panel's recommendation or conduct
a hearing on the matter. If the judge does not act by the end of 14 working
days, the department could on its own release the youth or transfer the offender
to a nonsecure facility.

Jefferson Parish Juvenile Court Judge
Nancy Konrad said the judges have agreed to the proposed procedure, which would
keep the veto power in judges' hands.

"What the judges feel is (that) it
is their duty as elected officials to be the ultimate decision-maker about the
release of children," she said.

But Konrad said judges still want assurances
that if youths are going to be released from prisons, there would be an "intensive
aftercare" program set up. "We need to ensure the bill provides for all that,"
she said.

Although the Department of Corrections
has put in a budget request to add $5 million to its $24 million budget for
community programs for the budget year beginning July 1, House Appropriations
Committee Chairman Jerry Luke LeBlanc, D-Lafayette, said the agency will receive
far less than that.

"I'm trying to get them some money
to get started," LeBlanc said. "But we don't have $5 million for that."

Bill seeks Tallulah closing

The idea of a panel similar to a parole
board for juveniles within the Department of Corrections is a concept agency
officials have been pushing for years, saying that in many cases judges do not
respond to their recommendations that a youth is ready to leave the juvenile
prisons.

As Landrieu's proposal calls for closing
the Tallulah prison in northeast Louisiana to juveniles after about 18 months,
the department needs a panel to ensure that enough juveniles are moving out
of the other facilities to make room for those now at Tallulah, Martin said.

While many different groups, from the
governor's office to juvenile advocacy organizations, agreed to the compromise
plan worked out two weeks ago, some questions remain about how it will be received
in the Senate. Earlier in the legislative session, the Senate passed its own
proposals, including a measure to close the oft-criticized Tallulah prison in
only a year.

"I'm still not happy with the 18 months
(time frame)," said Sen. Donald Cravins, D-Arnaudville, sponsor of the Senate
legislation, who has noted in the past that some experts have said the 225 juveniles
at Tallulah can be moved out more quickly. But Cravins said he might be willing
to compromise when the proposal comes to the Senate.

Corrections Department officials have
held firm that the closure date must be longer than the year approved by the
Senate, saying they will need lockdown cells like those at Tallulah to hold
young offenders who are considered violent.

The Corrections Department is building
a 72-cell wing at the Jetson Correctional Institute in Baton Rouge for holding
what the agency determines to be violent youthful offenders. But because of
holdups at the federal level -- most of the money for the facility comes from
a federal grant -- the individual cells will not be completed next winter or
spring as expected, said Trey Boudreaux, corrections undersecretary.